Nehemiah 3:17

After him repaired the Levites, Rehum the son of Bani. Next unto him repaired Hashabiah, the ruler of the half part of Keilah, in his part.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(17) The Levites.—The circuit is coming round to the Temple.

Rehum the son of Bani.—The Levites were under him as a body.

In his part.—The other part of the Keilah district (now Kila) is in the next verse.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

3:1-32 The rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. - The work was divided, so that every one might know what he had to do, and mind it, with a desire to excel; yet without contention, or separate interests. No strife appears among them, but which should do most for the public good. Every Israelite should lend a hand toward the building up of Jerusalem. Let not nobles think any thing below them, by which they may advance the good of their country. Even some females helped forward the work. Some repaired over against their houses, and one repaired over against his chamber. When a general good work is to be done, each should apply himself to that part which is within his reach. If every one will sweep before his own door, the street will be clean; if every one will mend one, we shall all be mended. Some that had first done helped their fellows. The walls of Jerusalem, in heaps of rubbish, represent the desperate state of the world around, while the number and malice of those who hindered the building, give some faint idea of the enemies we have to contend with, while executing the work of God. Every one must begin at home; for it is by getting the work of God advanced in our own souls that we shall best contribute to the good of the church of Christ. May the Lord thus stir up the hearts of his people, to lay aside their petty disputes, and to disregard their worldly interests, compared with building the walls of Jerusalem, and defending the cause of truth and godliness against the assaults of avowed enemies.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The constant mention of "priests," "Levites," and Nethinims," sufficiently indicates that the writer is here concerned with the sacerdotal quarter, that immediately about the temple.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

16. the sepulchres of David, and to the pool that was made, and unto the house of the mighty—that is, along the precipitous cliffs of Zion [Barclay].

Matthew Poole's Commentary

No text from Poole on this verse.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

After him repaired the Levites, Rehum the son of Bani,.... Who was one of them, as he that follows was another:

next unto him repaired Hashabiah, the ruler of the half part of Keilah: a city of the tribe of Judah, Joshua 15:4

in his part; either with the men of that part of Keilah under his jurisdiction, or at the expense of that part of it.

Geneva Study Bible

After him repaired the Levites, Rehum the son of Bani. Next unto him repaired Hashabiah, the ruler of the half part of Keilah, in his part.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

17. the Levites, Rehum the son of Bani] Here it may be noticed that the community is mentioned first, its representative afterwards. This variation from the usage in Nehemiah 3:7-8 is perhaps intended to give prominence to the work of the Levites or of a particular band of them.

Rehum, whose name is the same as that of one of the chief colleagues of Zerubbabel at the Return from Exile (Ezra 2:2), is perhaps to be identified with the Rehum in Nehemiah 10:25. Bani is mentioned in Nehemiah 9:5.

the ruler of the half part of Keilah] R.V. the ruler of half the district of Keilah. This is in all probability to be identified with the Keilah of Joshua 15:44; 1 Samuel 23:1, a town about 15 miles S. W. of Jerusalem.

in his part] R.V. for his part, i.e. for the district which he represented, in distinction from the district mentioned in the verse following.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 17. - The ruler of the half part of Keilah. Rather, "ruler of one-half of the region of K." The district within which Keilah stood was divided into two parts, one of which was under Hashabiah and the other under Bavai (ver. 18). Both took part in the work of restoration, and the two working-parties were assigned adjacent portions of the wall In his part; Rather, "for his part" - pro tractu suo, as Rambach renders. Nehemiah 3:17

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

The wall from the steps leading from the city of David to the angle opposite the armoury. From Nehemiah 3:16 onwards we find for the most part אחריו, after him, instead of ידו על, which only occurs again in Nehemiah 3:17 and Nehemiah 3:19. Nehemiah the son of Azbuk, the ruler of half the district of Beth-zur (see rem. on 2 Chronicles 11:7), repaired the wall as far as "opposite the sepulchres of David, and unto the pool that was made, and to the house of the heroes." The sepulchres of David are the sepulchres of the house of David in the city of David (comp. 2 Chronicles 32:33). "Opposite the sepulchres of David" is the length of wall on the eastern side of Zion, where was probably, as Thenius endeavours to show in the Zeitschr. of the deutsch morgenl. Gesellsch. xxi. p. 495f., an entrance to the burying-place of the house of David, which was within the city. The "pool that was made" must be sought at no great distance, in the Tyropoean valley, but has not yet been discovered. The view of Krafft (Topographie von Jerusalem, p. 152), that it was the reservoir artificially constructed by Hezekiah, between the two walls for the water of the old pool (Isaiah 22:11), rests upon incorrect combinations. "The house of the heroes" is also unknown. In Nehemiah 3:17 and Nehemiah 3:18, the lengths of wall repaired by the three building parties there mentioned are not stated. "The Levites, Rehum the son of Bani," stands for: the Levites under Rehum the son of Bani. There was a Rehum among those who returned with Zerubbabel, Nehemiah 12:3; Ezra 2:2; and a Bani occurs among the Levites in Nehemiah 9:5. After him repaired Hashabiah, the ruler of half the district of Keilah, for his district. Keilah, situate, according to Joshua 15:44 and 1 Samuel 23:1, in the hill region, is probably the village of Kila, discovered by Tobler (vol. iii. p. 151), eastward of Beit Dshibrin. By the addition לפלכּו, for his district, i.e., that half of the whole district which was under his rule, "it is expressly stated that the two halves of the district of Keilah worked apart one from the other" (Bertheau). The other half is mentioned in the verse next following.